Training Splits

Last week on Gus’ Guide to Peak Performance we discussed lies in the fitness industry. This week I will be discussing the topic of training splits.

According to Barbend.com, “a workout split is how you divide up your workouts throughout the week either by body region, movement, specific body part, or by lift.” The question is really how you should select what split to run.

Realistically, the split that is most effective depends on your goals and how much spare time you have each week to spend in the gym. According to Greg Doucette, a pro bodybuilder, author, and influencer with more than 950,000 subscribers on youtube, and many other trustworthy sources the most important thing is that you are hitting every muscle group at least two times a week. Men’sHealth.com reads “Doing three sets of biceps curls on Monday and three sets on Thursday will make for bigger biceps than if you do six sets on Monday.” For that reason, a natural athlete should not be running a typical “bro split.” An example of a bro split would be hitting chest Monday, back Tuesday, shoulders Wednesday, arms Thursday, and legs Friday. Surprisingly, in their studies hitting each muscle group three times per week did not create a significant difference from twice to week. 

My Recommendations based on whether you can workout three, four, or six times per week:

Three days: Three full body workouts per week. A typical workout in this split will be listed below.

Four days: An upper lower training split in which you would hit upper body twice a week and lower body twice a week. This is the current split that I am running and have been running for about the past four and a half months. Once again a typical upper lower workout will be listed below.

Six days: Finally if you have six days a week to workout, I would recommend a push pull legs split. You would have two push days, two pull days, two leg days, and one rest day a week.

Full body workout (courtesy of Jeff Nippard’s hypertrophy program):

Squat 3×6

Bench 3×8

Lat Pulldown 3×10

RDL 3×10

Dips 3×8

Calf Raise 3×10

DB supinated curl 3×10

Upper lower (personal upper body workout):
Bench Press 3×5

Lat Pulldown 3×10

Military Press 3×10

DB row 3×12

Pec Dec 3×15

DB hammer curl 3×10

Tricep straight bar pushdown 3×10

Push, Pull, Legs (personal Push day):

Flat DB bench 3×8-10 

DB lateral raise 3×12

Incline bench press 3×8

Dips 3xfailure

Low cable flys 3×15

EZ bar skullcrusher 3×10

Single arm tricep extension 3×12